Across the Salty Sea
by moosebologna
Summary: Just a little blurb to go with my friend's fanfiction about our OCs.
1. Chapter One

The freezing rain created sharp ambience as Ilenia paced, shadows cascading from her and onto the old man who stood idly in the corner. He tried not to stare or judge as he could been seen doing the same thing late at night. She kept fighting herself from looking into the orb that sat on a golden stand in the middle of the room, her hands wrung between the thin skirts of her dress anxiously. It had been a full year since she had last seen her sister and even then it was only for a brief moment while she slept, she was so peaceful... Ilenia thought of how easily it would have been to kill her right then and there, before closing her eyes and turning to face the glowing orb.

It reflected images of a ship filled with sweaty men carrying boxes and a burly captain with dark hair. She leaned over the orb, her slender hands clasping onto it as she focused all of her energy on her sister. The scent of flowers filled the room, they were exotic and intoxicating-much like Willow. Finally the images cleared up enough so she could watch her sister childishly galivanting around with a gnoll. Her lips turned to a sneer as she gripped onto the orb tightly only to throw it to the ground with a thud and roll. The old man stepped out from his shadow, reaching for Ilenia-she flinched and slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me." Her voice was demanding at first, then flittered into a quieter tone. "You disgust me."

"I am your elder, you should respect me."

The elf rolled her shoulders as a smile appeared across her red lips. "You aren't my elder, you're just my grandfather who doesn't know how to mind his own business." She sauntered to where the orb fell and picked up.

For a long time she was silent, watching her sister laugh as if nothing at all had happened. She let out a sigh as she placed the orb back on its stand, her hand falling limp by her side.

"Why do you insist on making her life miserable?" The old man inquired, stepping closer so he could see the images. A pained look overcame him when he saw her, so full of spirit... "Why can't you just leave it be?"

At first the elf didn't reply, she stood by the window now, running her fingers through her long red hair, it was longer than Willow's now. "Do you hate me, grandfather?"

The air between them became stiff and tense. He tried desperately to answer as fast as he could but found that no words would form. Did he hate her? Something in his heart said yes but he knew what he had gotten into all those years ago. Ilenia turned to him then, her angled features creating pressure in his chest, and seemed almost sincere. He knew she was lying. "You know I don't hate you, my dear."

She walked back to the orb, letting her fingers just barely dance across the warm surface. "Then you understand why I'd like her dead..." The image blurred to a young man and a green girl talking. He was drawing something beautiful. "...If I'm to be in power I can't have some girl who knows me like a sister walking around spilling secrets, now can I?" He hadn't noticed that she was so close to him now, he was sweating. She had become something he couldn't control anymore and that terrified him.

"All this time you thought you were manipulating me, you thought that I was under your rule, didn't you? You thought you could use me to climb the royal ladder..." The elf lifted her hand to touch his face and smiled when he flinched. "...But I am no puppet."

The old man could see her long hair beginning to move beneath him like snakes, it began to tangle around his legs and up his waist. When the hair began to squeeze he grabbed her arm and begged. "Please! Ilenia, you're wrong! I would never use you like that, you're too strong for such nonsense... Please don't do this, not after all I've done for you."

The enchantress said nothing as she manipulated her hair to coil around his fat neck, lifting him inches from the ground. He began to choke, frantically reaching for anything to help him. Her hair acted like rope to keep his arms by his sides. Ilenia told herself to look away but found fascination in the way his bright eyes bulged from his now beet red face. He was trying to say something but she wouldn't allow the tendrils to loosen any.

Eventually he stopped moving and she let him fell to the ground against the bookcase looking like a ragdoll. She turned to look at the orb one last time before stepping over him and exiting the room.

Willow awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of gentle waves crashing somewhere outside. It should have been something beautiful but instead it left a heavy feeling in her stomach. Her shaking hand grasped for her chest as she began to sweat and tear up. Somehow she knew something absolutely awful had happened to her grandfather, she could feel it in the air as she turned towards the wall in bed. It was the same feeling she got when Dillon went for that walk and never came back. The elf tried to pretend that it was just a bad dream but she knew that wasn't true. There was an encroaching feeling that her sister was getting closer to her goal, whatever that was, and there were less and less people standing in her way.

And she was one of them.


	2. Chapter Two

With the snow storm safely behind them, Corie and Thumoc decided to rest their weary legs for a few hours in a nearby cave. One flirtatious action led to another and now they found themselves wrapped up in three fur blankets on the cave floor. Luckily for the halfling her lover was covered in warm fur. She gave a content sigh as she curled up against him, her dark eyes looking up at his face before closing again. "I thought you said you wanted to rest, hm?"

Thumoc let out a huffed laugh before laying his hand the small of her back. "Yes but then I saw how the sweat collected on your neck and then you kissed me and I just had to continue..."

The halfling giggled, burying her face into his side with a warm breath. She couldn't help but find a knot in his fur and begin to untangle it, much to his dismay. Thumoc enjoyed when she was still and not constantly trying to groom him. "Do you think our friends even made it out of the city like they wanted? They've always been a little... Mischievous." Idly she fiddled with a dried leaf next to them.

"I'd like to thinks so. They're a capable bunch." His fingers twisted in her short hair for a moment.

"Yeah." Corie replied with a melancholy tone. She wasn't sure about what the group thought but she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss them. Not that she would admit it but she missed Max the most. Sure he was loud and unbelievably daft, but he was loyal and true. The halfling fondly remember the laugh they had over ale, talking about the one time that Corie stabbed him in the gut. She was sure that she saw the scar one time while they were in a bath house. "We should write a letter to them shouldn't we? To tell them we've made it out of the cities that would recognize us."

Thumoc nodded at first and then curled his lip. "How are we going to write a letter if neither of us can write?"

There was a long silence before their laughter broke through. "We'll just have to go into town and find a messenger..." Corie leaned her weight onto him, wrapping her legs around one of his. "...Tomorrow though."

Luckily for them the town was small and seemed to have a variety of races. After breakfast at the local inn they asked around for someone who could write and deliver a letter, the only person that seemed to be available today was a man named Bailey. Depending on who you asked he was referred to as "the mailman" or "singing fool", and one drunk man didn't say anything about Bailey at all, just how beautiful his wife was. Corie and Thumoc spent the next few moments trying to find the man, only to follow the sound of singing down into a small farm.

"I found me a white woven lady;

Whose hair was ashen as thee!

The lad who sent, O' he told me;

For thee to meet him at the Local Bee!"

The lanky man bowed at the end of his short song, hand extended with a large bouquet of pale blue flowers, only looking up after the woman didn't take them. She didn't look particularly pleased, Corie thought to herself. "I told that no good drunk Billy I wasn't gonna take 'im back! No matter how many sonnets he tells you to sing!" She slapped the flowers out of his hands and stomped back into the house.

Bailey seemed to wilt at her reaction, letting out a long sigh as he slowly picked up the flowers now ruined with mud. He was wearing humorous bright colors which clashed horribly, somehow his purple cloak tied it all together, hopefully this was just a costume for his "job".

"Excuse me, sir? Does your name happen to be Bailey?" Corie called out as they met him halfway down the road.

His smile was infectious as he dramatically bowed in front of the halfling. "Bailey O'Conners at your service..." He paused when looking at her fully, not entirely sure if she was in fact a she. "...My friend!"

Corie gave a flaky smile, blushing only slightly at how thick his accent was. "Ah... I'm Corie and this is Thumoc. We were wondering if we could hire your services? Perhaps we could buy you lunch?"

The gnoll wanted to make a joke about meeting "that no good drunk Billy" at the "Bee" but decided against it. Bailey seemed surprised at first and then shook his head. "Uh sure, if you two insist. I won't say no to a free meal... Unless you weren't offerin' that and then I am sorry." He shrugged awkwardly, long hands tending to his lute.

"We were."

The Bee Bar Inn was small and smelled thickly of honey wheat. Billy sat in the corner sulking after Bailey gave him the woman's reaction, only to drown his sorrows into another large cup of mead. The bard (mailman?) was abnormally tall, his knees touched the underside of the table, with a large nose and handsome freckles that created little galaxies on his cheeks. He wore a wedding ring which was either brand new or had very good care taken of it. His mop of thin brown hair seemed to constantly fall into his eyes, he kept pushing strands behind his ears.

"So about this job..." He spoke between bites of cheese. "...You want me write and a deliver a letter? It doesn't sound so hard, it's just a few days ride South of here, correct?"

Corie put down her hot cup of tea. "Yes but you must move as fast as you're able. They were talking of getting on a ship but I'm not sure when or to where."

"Not to mention that we can't stay here waiting to hear back on if you got it in time." Thumoc added in after finishing a small mug of ale.

Bailey leaned back in his chair, rubbing the stubble on his chin. He thought on the amount of coin they were offering, they obviously didn't have much as they were partly paying with a bracelet. The yearning for adventure ate at his sides, he could play songs on the way and meet someone who might be interesting in hiring his voice. An entire scenario played out in his head on why this pair was on the run and wanted the letter out as soon as possible. Maybe they were eloping and wanted to send word to family; or perhaps they were spies running from the government, sending secret letters to their inside man. The bard snapped his thought back onto the tired halfling. "I'll do it! And because you two seem to be strapped for coin I'll only take a few to get a little gift for loved ones at home."

As he reached across the table, Corie took hold of his hand gently, clasping it firmly. "If this letter doesn't get to our friends before their ship leaves... We may never see them again. We know it's a lot to be asking but as far as they know right now, we haven't made it to where we were headed."

He sat there, leaning over the table at an awkward angle, staring at them. It had been years since he was given a letter that meant so much to the client. Funny last time it involved gnolls too. He rested his free hand on top of hers and gave a sincere smile.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to deliver this letter."


End file.
